Meet Ruth, my grandma (my mom's mom), and oh my, was she a lovely woman in all the ways a wife, mother, grandmother, and friend can be lovely. Ruth was a schoolteacher and loved her family and community well. She kept charge of her home in a gentle, orderly, and masterful way, ensuring everything was in its place and ready for company at a moment's notice. Ruth was an excellent cook and cookie maker and had funny rules about bread bags being cut down so there were no long pla

Today the Japanese beetles showed up. This year we are slightly more ready than last year, and we actually hired 4 farm employees that will be here in a little over a week. We planted "trap crops" to attract the beetles away from the crops we want to protect...amaranth and lots of zinnias. Problem - trap crops are not in full bloom yet, so not trapping anything. I caught a bunch to try to feed them to our chickens. The chicks were interested, but the beetles' crunchy texture